Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.2

www.afootinthecrease.com

When it became clear that Dany Heatley no longer wanted to be an Ottawa Senator, there certainly were not going to be any complaints from the Toronto Maple Leafs knowing they would have to face their Northeast Division rivals six times during the regular season. Heatley - now with the San Jose Sharks - is easily among the top five pure goal scorers in the NHL. His absence from the Ottawa line up and his fifty points in thirty six career games against the Maple Leafs will leave the Senators a far less daunting team.

Phil Kessel, another one of the premier threats within the Northeast, is no longer a concern – his talents having been added to the Toronto arsenal a week ago.

The Buffalo Sabres made no notable roster improvements during the off season nor did the Boston Bruins. In Montreal, Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Hal Gill were brought in but are merely replacing Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev, Alex Tanguay and Mike Komesarik – another divisional foe turned friend for the Maple Leafs. If anything, the Canadiens will be as good as they were last year but not much better.

Apart from essentially replacing Dany Heatley with Alex Kovalev who is frankly on the decline in his career and who knows if he will “feel like it” this year, the Ottawa Senators did not improve much up front. If Pascal Leclaire can solidify their netminding, then that will bode well but with only one strong season under his belt in 2007-2008, as far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on him.

No question the most improved team on paper in the Northeast Division is the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the game isn’t played on paper. If the likes of Francois Beauchemin, Mike Komesarik, Jonas Gustavsson, Phil Kessel and some of the youth can play up to their expectations, the Maple Leafs will be a much improved club on the ice as well. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.